You can defect, PDP dares rebel govs

The Peoples Democratic Party on Thursday said it would not compel any of its members to remain within its fold.

It said while it would prefer to dialogue with the aggrieved members to resolve any outstanding issues, it recognised that there was no compulsion in political party membership.

The party was reacting to a threat by some of the governors to defect to the opposition All Progressives Congress if the crisis within the party persisted.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, told our correspondent over the telephone that the party was a democratic institution made up of individuals who chose to be members on their own free will.

He said, “We want them to remain in the party. We will want to work with them and resolve our issues; but we are in a democracy and in a democracy membership of a party is a choice freely made.”

Jim Iyke holding jealously to his new faith

PUNCH - Three weeks after his ‘deliverance’ in a Lagos church, Nollywood star, Jim Iyke, now sings a brand new song on Twitter, writes JAYNE AUGOYE

When the news  of Jim Iyke’s purported deliverance from ‘demons’ at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Lagos,  was announced on the TB Joshua Ministries Facebook account on September 29, it immediately sparked an online frenzy.

An accompanying video, which saw the actor rolling all over the floor as ‘demons and evil spirit’ were being cast out of him by a minister in the church, elicited mixed reactions and had many saying that it was all stage-managed by the actor, in a quest for relevance. Not a few also argued that there was more to it all than meet the eye.

Yet, surprisingly, Iyke, appears to have chosen to remain silent amid increasing public criticism. Occasionally he lets out some tweets that have further heightened the suspense.

Identity verification: Jonathan orders agencies to stop multiple registration

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday ordered all government agencies requiring identity verification or involved in data capturing activities by switching over to the National Identity Management Commission infrastructure by December 31, 2014.

He also gave the NIMC till the same date to ensure that all eligible persons as provided for in Section 16 of the NIMC Act 23 of 2007 were enrolled into the National Identity Database.

Jonathan handed down the order at the inauguration of the enrollment exercise for the issuance of the National Identification Number held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

There has been growing concerns among Nigerians over the duplication of data capturing activities by government agencies including the Federal Road Safety Commission, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Immigration Service and Nigeria Population Commission.

The Biometric Central Motor Registration introduced by the Nigeria Police recently had attracted criticism with many describing it as unnecessary.

Nigeria move up on FIFA rankings

Nigeria have moved up to the 33rd position in the latest FIFA  rankings released on Thursday. The Super Eagles gained three spots from last month’s ranking following their victory against Ethiopia in Sunday’s World Cup first leg play-off in Addis Ababa.

The Eagles have had a topsy-turvy year rising to 28th position in May but falling down to 36th in September. Their victory over Ethiopia has now pushed them up three places on the rankings.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia dropped two spots to finish 95 ahead of their return leg against Nigeria in Calabar next month.

Ivory Coast  continue to be the top ranked African side moving up two places to 17 this month. Ghana also move up one spot to finish in 23rd position while Algeria dropped four spots to finish in 32nd position just ahead of Nigeria.

Spain remain the leading country in the world followed by Germany, Argentina, Colombia and Belgium in the top five.

Bulletproof car scandal: Airline operators, others demand investigation

Some stakeholders in the aviation industry and civil society  groups   have called on the nation’s anti-corruption  agencies to investigate the purchase of two bulletproof vehicles for the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah.

The vehicles valued at a whopping $1.6m(about N225m) were said to have been  delivered to Oduah in August by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

But the aviation industry stakeholders and the groups, in separate interviews with our correspondents on Thursday, said their calls for a probe  were  necessary in order to identify and prosecute those behind the controversial deal.

The aviation stakeholders are the  Airline Operators of Nigerian and  Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.

AON, through its Assistant General Secretary, Mr. Muhammed Tukur, described the purchase of the bulletproof cars as unfortunate, saying   it showed the high level of  corruption  in Nigeria .

I don’t need average players – Eagles coach

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi insists that the door remains open for new players to come into the Super Eagles, but says it will take “very high quality” to dislodge any of his current players.

“It’s going to be very hard,” Keshi told KickOffNigeria.com. “Anybody that wants to break into the team now must be a very tangible player.

“He must have a very great thing for us that he is bringing into the team to make the team much better.

“The door is not closed, there are a lot of Nigerian players out there that have not gotten the opportunity to play, I have not seen them.

“But if there’s anybody coming into the team, he must be a very high quality player.”

The likes of Dinamo Kyiv’s Haruna Lukman, Kilmarnock’s Gabriel Reuben and Hull City’s Sone Aluko are knocking on the door and Keshi says they will get a chance to prove their quality.

“In every department of the Eagles, we need competition and we need players who can bring that competition.

“If Lukman is doing so well, we will bring him in. We have people like (Gabriel) Rueben and Sone Aluko, who are doing well too, so why not we will bring all of them in?

They are all Nigerians and they want to play and it’s a blessing for me and for the team,” Keshi said.

Keshi invites home boys for Jordan

Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has invited 28 domestic league players to camp ahead of  the October 28 friendly game against Jordan in Amman.

In a statement on Tuesday, spokesman for the Nigeria Football Federation Ademola Olajire said the camp would open   on Thursday.

He said the friendly game was to enable Keshi to prepare his squad for  the African Nations Championship in South Africa next year. The Eagles will be playing in the  competition meant for players playing their trade for clubs  in their countries for the first time.

On the other hand,  Jordan will use the encounter  to prepare for their 2014  World Cup playoff  against South American powerhouse Uruguay.

As expected, Keshi invited goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Solomon Kwambe, Benjamin Francis and Sunday Mba, who are members of the first team.

The Tunisia ’94 Africa Cup of Nations winner  invited the 2013 Federation Cup hero Bright Esieme from Enyimba, as well as  former France-based Ejike Uzoenyi and  Nasarawa United’s Victor Namo, who the domestic league leading scorer. Other prominent players listed are Daniel Akpeyi, Ebenezer Odunlami,  Umar Zango, Etebo Oghene, Muhammad Gambo, Ifeanyi Edeh and Ezekiel Mbah.

The squad are scheduled  to depart the country  for Amman on October 25.

Anambra deportees sue LASG for N1bn

Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye

THE 76 destitute persons, who were deported by the Lagos State Government and dumped on the Upper Iweka Bridge, Onitsha, Anambra State on July 24, 2013, have dragged the Lagos State Government to a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

The suit was filed by seven of the deportees: Nnenna Ogbonna, Joseph Aniebonam, Osondu Mbuto, Osondu Agwu, Emily Okoroariri, Friday Ndukwe and Onyeka Ugwu as the applicants, on behalf of the 76 others, while the Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State are the respondents.

In the motion filed by their lawyer, Ugo Ugwunnadi, the applicants asked the court to declare that they, as Nigerian citizens were entitled to the enjoyment of their fundamental rights as provided for in Sections 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 41 and 42 of the 1999 constitution, as amended.

Troops avert pre-Sallah tragedy in Borno

The  Nigerian Army   on Tuesday said it had averted  a pre-Sallah tragedy in Borno State by uncovering a plot by insurgents to wreak havoc in three communities.

It also confirmed the   killing   40 of the insurgents and destruction of   a vehicle wired with Improvised Explosive Devices which was meant to be exploded  in Bama on Sunday night.

 The Spokesman of the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army, Capt. Aliyu Danja, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday,  said some of the  insurgents escaped with gunshot wounds.

Danja  said    that the  terror suspects had planned to launch coordinated attacks in Bama, Gwoza and Pulka towns in Borno State at the same time on Sunday.

FG begins clampdown on New PDP members

The Federal Government may have tactically commenced a total clampdown on members of the New Peoples Democratic Party.

Already, an event centre, A-Park, own by Senator Aisha Al-Hassan, a staunch member of the faction of the ruling party located near OAU Quarters in Maitama, Abuja, has been marked for demolition.

Our correspondent gathered that Al-Hassan had been served a notice of demolition by the Federal Capital Territory.

Al-Hassan, who hails from Taraba State, however, insisted that she was given permission to build the event centre, adding that she might be forced to approach the court to stop the demolition.

But the Special Assistant to the Minister of FCT on Media, Mr. Nosike Ogbuenyi, said that the senator was just given a temporary permit, which he said forbade her from erecting a permanent structure on the land.

He said the senator also signed an undertaking to vacate the land anytime the authority needed it.

EFCC broke, can’t pay lawyers

EFCC boss, Ibrahim Lamorde

The Federal Government’s anti-graft war, which many have dismissed as below average, may collapse as  the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, one of the agencies saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting  the  campaign,  is said to be broke.

Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday revealed that the  EFCC  had been finding it difficult to meet its obligations to the  lawyers handling cases on its behalf.

The most affected are senior lawyers in charge of cases against  influential politicians/ suspects who are either involved in high profile money laundering or outright stealing.

One of the lawyers, who disclosed this to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said  he and some of his colleagues, were not happy with the turn of events.

He said that some of them had not been paid their professional fees for long, adding that this was capable of affecting their performance in court.

The lawyer said, “It may interest you to know that we have not been paid for long. I believe that  the commission is broke.”

It was also gathered that the cash crunch had seriously affected the commission to the extent that its enlightenment programmes  on radio and television stations had been suspended.

The programmes called Zero Tolerance, is used to educate Nigerians on the  evils of corruption in the society.

Apart from that, the commission needed for also uses the   programmes  to inform Nigerians about its activities and ongoing cases in court.

The presenters of the programmes, especially those on television,  interview notable people in the society on the evils of corruption.

But the inability of the commission to pay the affected stations, our correspondent gathered, made it to suspend the programmes.

A top source in the commission said, “It is painful that we could be in this mess. Imagine an agency fighting corruption to be financially incapacitated? It  is  bad.

“The programmes  we suspended were designed to project the commission and also keep Nigerians abreast of  the activities of the commission.

Eagles can’t rest now –Kanu

Despite Nigeria’s 2-1 victory in Addis Ababa over the Ethiopians, former Super Eagles’ captain Kanu Nwankwo has called on Coach Stephen Keshi-led side not to celebrate yet, as the race to Brazil 2014 is just half way.
While congratulating the African champions for their resilience in the encounter that saw the host taking the lead early in the game.
“Up Eagles and up Keshi and his team.” was his post on Facebook page. Kanu also used the social media to also hail the efforts of the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF), the Nigeria Football Supporters Club and in deed all Nigerian fans for backing the Eagles all the way.”
Paying tributes to goals scorer, Emmanuel Emenike, Kanu said he was impressed with the players, particularly, Emmanuel Emenike for his goals, he warned that the team was only half way to Brazil and therefore needs to work harder like they did in the second half of the game on Sunday and finish the job in Calabar.

Moji Oyetayo (Mama Ajasco): I’m proud of my curves

Among the sitcoms making waves in the country, Papa Ajasco and Company ranks higher. And one of the lead characters that make people laugh whenever the show is on television is Moji Oyetayo also known as Mama Ajasco. In this interview with The Entertainer, the plus size comedian talks about her career, personality, and sex. You will really enjoy it!

You’ve been quite busy these days. How have you been coping?
The Lord has been faithful. I have been getting loads of jobs these days. Slow and steady they say wins the race but I am getting it fast, fast and I am certainly winning the race. I have been getting feedback from producers and marketers. I have done lots of soaps and movies and I have broken the jinx because I was involved in a Yoruba epic. When I got to the location, I told them to please manage my Yoruba language but when I heard ‘action’, I did not believe what I was speaking. I really did so well and from that particular location I got three other scripts. So, I am grateful to God for his faithfulness.

Day I begged a lady to leave ‘ My thing’ –Soji Bankole of Tinsel

On the runway he is good. He’s also a consummate actor who features regularly on the popular  MNET TV soap opera  Tinsel. Vintage Ajibade Gbenro also known as Soji Bankole on Tinsel recently spoke with Sunday Sun after a fashion show in Port Harcourt about his journey into acting , growing up and life the limelight.
Tell us about your journey into modeling…
I grew up in Benue state and I actually  wanted  to  study  medicine,  but in the process of waiting for JAMB to gain admission into UNIJOS  my mum advised me to keep my brain busy. I enrolled at Benue State University for a remedial programme.
After  the remedial programme, I had issues with non-indigenes not getting the best course. They shoved me into Education(Biology) . I hated that course with a passion .   Along the line, the Mr Campus  pageant  came up.  My friends wanted me to make  them proud , because we were regarded as  unserious students.  They never saw us reading but we always passed.

We’ll survive no-work-no-pay policy –ASUU

The Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Lagos chapter, Dr. Oghenekaro Ogbinaka, speaks on the 14-week-old strike by lecturers in public universities, in this interview with CHARLES ABAH

Fourteen weeks into the strike, the end is still not in sight. What is ASUU’s next line of action considering the plight of students?

Even if the strike that started on July 1 has lasted all the only one week, it would still have been very damaging. In other climes, nobody would expect  all the public universities to be shut for over 100 days. Yet we all are carrying on as if all is well.

Our policy makers’ perception of education is faulty. The governments, across all levels of governance, have a faulty philosophy of education. They think that educating Nigerians is a gift. They believe that proper funding of education is wasteful and a private “family matter.” Hence, you may even hear those who ought to be well-informed wanting to know why government should be spending so much on education. They want every public institution and schools privatised.

Keshi plans for Calabar clash

Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has said he has started planning for the second leg match against Ethiopia in Calabar  on November  16, saying the team have decided to take the game  seriously, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

Nigeria defeated the Walya Antelopes of Ethiopia  2-1 in the first leg of Brazil 2014 World Cup playoff in Addis Ababa on Sunday.

“We will play as if the first leg has not taken place,’’  Keshi, told reporters  at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Monday on arrival from Addis Ababa.

Keshi said the domestic league players  were  expected to open the team’s camp at the end of the month and that their foreign-based counterparts would  join later.

He said the Ethiopians gave the Eagles good run for their money but that experience gave the African champions the day.

 Assistant coach Daniel Amokachi said  the  coaching  crew had drawn up a plan for the return leg.

Ethiopian fans attack Eagles, injure Igiebor

Nigeria midfielder Nosa Igiebor was injured when angry Ethiopian fans attacked the Super  Eagles after the first leg World Cup playoff against the Walya Antelopes in Addis Ababa on Sunday.

The Eagles defeated the Walya Antelopes 2-1 at the Addis Ababa Stadium to take a three-point advantage to the return match in Calabar on November 16.

In a statement  on Monday,  spokesman for the  Eagles Ben Alaiya  said  the fans attacked the  bus  conveying the Eagles to their hotel after the game with stones and  shattered its  rear windscreen.

“(Real Betis player) Nosa Igiebor was the unlucky one as the stones  slashed his right palm leading to profuse bleeding that was immediately attended to by team doctor, Ibrahim Gyaran.”

Alaiya said the Nigeria Football Federation reported the  incident to the  FIFA Security team at the match venue for the encounter.

“We hope FIFA  will take an action,” Umeh told BBC Sport.

FG set to move against rebel govs, Baraje

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party may take a turn for the worse as the Presidency and the Federal Capital Territory Administration intensify actions against “rebel” members of the party.

The PUNCH gathered on Monday that while the Presidency was set to remove such rebel members holding  board appointments, the FCTA  was determined to ensure that more  governors sympathetic to the Alhaji Abubakar Barage-led New PDP lose their landed properties in Abuja.

One of the seven governors in the New PDP, Rabiu Kwakwanso of Kano State, had a choice piece of land allocated to him in Maitama District, Abuja, revoked by the FCTA on Saturday.

The PUNCH  gathered that the FCTA was also set to remove what it termed “illegal structures on the land” measuring about 2,500 square metres.

National conference’ll resolve security challenges – Mark

Senate President David Mark on Monday urged Nigerians to embrace the proposed National Conference as a platform to tackle the current security crisis in some northern parts of the country.

Mark made the apeal in his Eid-el-Kabir message to Nigerians titled, ‘Let us make Nigeria a better place.’

He noted that the unabating security challenges facing the nation was unfortunate and pleaded with people of goodwill to rise up to tackle the menace.

Mark, in the statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan,  remarked that “with the collective resolve and determination of all of us we can solve the problem and live like one big united nation where no one is oppressed or afraid of each other.”